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Local solicitors Pearson Legal take a look at issues arising from children using their first mobile phones after receiving them as christmas presesnts.

It’s at this time of year that Pearson's personal injury teams deal with a spike in road traffic accidents in which mobile phones are partly to blame for the injuries of either pedestrians or drivers.

These kind pf accidents usually involve pedestrians who are distracted by their mobiles and have no road awareness, or motorists who are illegally using their phones whilst driving and have slower reaction times.

Texting whilst driving slows reaction time by 37% according to the Transport Research Laboratory, whilst speaking on phone causes a 46% slower reaction tome.

A recent survey found that we check our phones 27 times a day and a worrying statistic is that a fifth of 18-24 year olds admit to checking their smart phones whilst crossing the road, having younger children with mobile phones with even less road sense can lead to tragedy.

“Our phones really now are an extension of our lives, they are our diaries, our music centres, our communication hubs and with social media interwoven into everyone’s daily routines we frequently see youngsters walking around with their heads buried into their phones and with earphones in.

“In these instances there is little road awareness and advances in technology bring big concerns over our attitudes to personal safety,” said solicitor Lisa Anderson.

“Locally police have been having a Christmas campaign not to use a mobile phone when you are driving, but I would urge parents considering buying their children a mobile phone at Christmas to also warn them of the dangers of using that phone whilst crossing roads and the potential serious consequences of an accident occurring with either a motor vehicle, motorbike or cyclist, no one wants to start the New Year with accidents and injuries,” she added.